1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an elevator installation with means for entering the destination floor and for making payment so that the installation can be operated as a means of transport for providing chargeable transportation services for persons and/or goods.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
French patent specification FR 1 600 333 an elevator installation is known with which a specified price has to be paid in cash for a specified distance of travel. The number of floors corresponding to the value of the inserted coins is noted by an electromechanical device. During the trip, a bolt which represents one floor is reset after each floor that is traveled past. When all the floor bolts have been reset, the elevator is stopped at the floor. The payments received are used to pay off the investment costs of the installation, and to cover the maintenance and running costs.
A disadvantage of the known device is that the coin receptacle containing the travel payments is frequently the object of criminal activities. A forcibly opened and plundered coin operation of the elevator installation, are the consequences. A further disadvantage is that the user must always have a corresponding number of coins ready, the number of coins inserted being directly related to the number of floors to be traveled.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an elevator installation which overcomes the problems of the prior art while at the same time providing a theft proof elevator for chargeable trips.
Pursuant to this object, and others which will become apparent hereafter, one aspect of the present invention resides in an elevator installation having means for entering a destination floor, means for making cashless payment, means for identifing the type of cashless payment, calculation means for calculating costs of the transportation services, and means for debiting the costs.
Another aspect of the invention resides in a method for operating an elevator installation on a fee-per use basis, comprising the steps of entering a destination floor, in an input unit, presenting a type of cashless payment, identifying the cashless payment, calculating transportation services which are input within a time window, and charging for the transportation services by cashless debiting of costs of these services.
The main advantages of the invention are that cashless payment for the individual transportation costs does not give rise to additional costs for operating and maintaining the coin-collection equipment, and the operator of the elevator does not suffer loss or inconvenience due to theft. The electronic means of payment can be used not only to pay the price of the trip; with them the elevator system can also at the same time record individual data of the particular user, and carry out specific user wishes. Additionally, the charges made can be adapted to the specific situation, such as free travel on special occasions, higher prices during peak traffic, bonuses for frequent travelers, special prices for solo trips, etc. The means of cashless payment also offer the advantages of individual charging for a specified time period, and central recording and charging of the transportation services provided, not only by one elevator installation but by several elevator installations together, with the result that the administrative costs of charging can be kept low for each individual elevator. Furthermore, the elevator according to the invention has the advantage that additional services provided during the trip can be individually charged.